Ian Wright’s Post

Another great example of the work that my colleagues at Fresh Thinking Advisory have completed in what many would argue are challenging market conditions. If you need funding advice for your business, or would like to benchmark your existing facilities, please get in touch. #financeforentrepreneurs #businessfinance #corporatefinance

What do Family Offices really want? 🤔 After a great call today with an investment professional from a Family Office in the UAE, it’s clearer than ever that family offices operate in a unique space. Often, their infrastructure isn't built out to handle a full in-house due diligence process. Many get together and discuss deals because of this -  but unlocking one family office can often mean access to several others, creating a domino effect of opportunities for fund managers. One critical takeaway? Knowing what they DON’T invest in is just as (if not more) important as understanding what they do. Don’t waste their time with pitches that miss the mark. Today’s call reminded me of the importance of asking the right questions upfront. Family offices can get inundated with proposals, yet they still proactively reach out to managers they want to invest in. The irony? Many of these managers don’t even know that these family offices exist. That’s where tools like matchmaking platforms become essential - connecting the dots between investors and the right managers. The landscape in the UAE is still nascent, but there’s a growing opportunity for managers who can break through. As we continue to build out Funderlytics, I'm more convinced that providing the right tools for both sides of the capital raise equation is the key to unlocking bigger opportunities for everyone.

📌 Interested in MM Private Equity? Take a look at our overview: 🔗 𝗠&𝗔 𝗕𝘂𝘆𝗼𝘂𝘁𝘀 𝗣𝗮𝗰𝗸 👉 https://shorturl.at/i4xzZ ✅ 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗠𝗶𝗱𝗱𝗹𝗲 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗘𝗾𝘂𝗶𝘁𝘆 (𝗠𝗠𝗣𝗘)? MMPE focuses on investments in companies with annual revenues ranging from $10M to $1B. It represents a massive slice of the economy, with 200,000+ businesses in the U.S. alone employing nearly a third of the U.S. workforce. ✅ 𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗗𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗻𝘀 • Buy-and-Build: Acquire smaller companies and bolt them onto a larger platform, expanding market share and cutting costs via operational efficiencies. • Founder Transitions: Facilitate succession planning for founder-led businesses by offering liquidity and strategic guidance. • Operational Improvements: Bring in best practices to streamline operations, reduce costs, and drive growth. • Growth Capital: Fund expansion into new markets, product launches, and large-scale scaling efforts. • Industry Consolidation: Execute roll-ups by acquiring multiple smaller players to build a larger, more competitive company with better market positioning. ✅ 𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗳𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗠𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗠𝗠𝗣𝗘 Professionalizing a MM company can drive growth and increase valuation multiples. PE firms use several levers to achieve this: • Organizational Structure: Streamline reporting lines and create defined roles, enabling faster decision-making. • Strategic Planning: Craft a growth-focused strategic plan aligned with industry trends and internal strengths. • Leadership Development: Build up the C-suite by developing key executives and bringing in industry veterans. • Financial Management: Implement better budgeting, forecasting, and reporting mechanisms to give stakeholders clarity and control. ✅ 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗣𝗘 𝗙𝗶𝗿𝗺𝘀 𝗦𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗲 𝗗𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘀 • Industry Expertise: Tap into industry knowledge and sector-specific contacts to identify opportunities ahead of competitors. • Network Expansion: Leverage industry events, deal conferences, and platforms like Axial to source off-market deals. • Relationship Management: Build long-term relationships with founders, operators, and industry insiders for exclusive deal flow. • Market Research: Stay ahead of industry trends and disruptions, identifying sectors ripe for roll-ups or consolidation. ✅ 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀 As with most M&A deals, the typical steps are: 1️⃣ Due Diligence: Comprehensive review of financials, operations and risks. 2️⃣ Negotiations: Agree on price, terms and structure of the deal. 3️⃣ Closing: Finalize contracts, financing, and legal documents before transferring ownership. 4️⃣ Post-Acquisition Integration: Align operations, streamline processes and unify the company --- 📚 𝗚𝗿𝗮𝗯 𝗙𝗥𝗘𝗘 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲 (if you missed them!): 🔗 Leveraged Finance Guides: https://shorturl.at/UyVRP 🔗 M&A Advisory Pack 2.0: https://shorturl.at/XTEex

Hello #CorporateFinance Enthusiasts! As we kick off a new week, let’s take a look at the standout transactions that defined the #PrivateEquity landscape last week. 🎯 News Week 24-24 Add-on Invision AG, a shareholder since 2019, has announced the sale of its stake in Representatives of Outstanding Footballers (ROOF) (Bavaria / DEU). ROOF, a consulting agency for professional football players, works closely with all football stakeholders, managing contracts and transfers. The stake has been sold to United Talent Agency (UTA) (California / USA), an agency majority-owned by EQT Partners, which provides strategic and marketing services to artists and talent in various sectors, including film, television, digital media, publishing, music, sports, and video games. Acquisition H2 Equity Partners (London) has made a strategic investment in The Coach Travel Group (CTG) (West Midlands / ENG). CTG operates a network of regional coach travel agencies and service providers. With this investment, H2 Equity aims to support CTG in developing its workforce, fleet, and technology to deliver best-in-class services to its customers. Fundraising Parquest Capital has successfully closed Parquest III at €414 million, surpassing its initial target of €400 million. Launched in 2022, this fund is focused on investing in French SMEs valued between €20 and €200 million, particularly those in the B2B services and healthcare sectors. Exit H.I.G. Capital has announced the sale of its stake in DGS (€119 million of revenue in 2022, Lazio / ITA). DGS provides services and solutions in cybersecurity, digital solutions, and management consulting. The shares were acquired by the co-founders and management team of DGS, in partnership with Intermediate Capital Group (ICG). H.I.G., which acquired DGS in 2020, has helped accelerate its growth through targeted acquisitions. Stay ahead in the world of #InvestmentFunds and #MergersAndAcquisitions in Europe and North America by signing up for our weekly newsletters, featuring all transactions and information sorted by region. 🔔 Sign up for our newsletter--> https://lnkd.in/efvPZBNH See you next week for more exciting updates in the M&A world!

Really good overview of the role of middle-market PE firms by Private Equity Bro - highlighting a few important points: 👇 🛜 PE firms can significantly contribute to a company success by leveraging their relationships, networks, and industry expertise. 💲 Firms can structure deals to align incentives, including equity ownership for influencing strategic decisions, debt financing to enhance returns and drive financial discipline, management incentives to encourage management commitment and alignment to company goals, and defining the exit strategy for potentially maximizing returns. 🧒 Often ignored, PE firms can enable succession planning for founder-led businesses by providing liquidity options and strategic guidance. 🤝 Management buyouts allow experienced management teams to acquire their companies, ensuring continuity and aligning incentives with growth strategies, while PE firms provide the required capital and support for successful management buyout transactions. 📊 And of course, the metrics - typical holding periods of 4-6 years, targeted IRRs of 15%-20% and exit EBITDA multiples of 8x-12x. ❗ Great post Private Equity Bro! ❗ #Finance #PE #Insights

For 5 years I have been growing the UK's largest non-executive community.🌏 But I have been in this market since 2010(ish). 👀 One thing that always struck me was that non-executives open the doors to off-market deals. I have seen non-executives introduce M&A opp's to both buyers and advisers; I'm guessing that I've seen at least 300 or more. So..... 10 days ago, we launched the interface that allows our non-executive and chair members (all 20,000 of them) to take their clients' businesses to market discreetly. DealDirect. The DealDirect platform allows them to connect with some of the 100s of PE, VC and Family Offices who have used our Operator Network. But it also allows them to connect with sell-side advisers - M&A, Tax, Legal, Valuation, Wealth Management and more. In 10 days we have seen 70+ deals - covering business exits and funding requirements. Yesterday there were 10+. 🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀 If you are interested, take a look at https://lnkd.in/eha-9Zxq Alternatively, DM me and we can have a call. Below is just one example of a funding requirement for a £1.8m revenue (yr 1) solar and heat-pump business. #DealDirect #Virtualnonexecs #OffMarket #nonexecutivedirectors

Recently, Acquis led a Monitor Live+ discussion with top asset finance experts to explore the challenges and opportunities facing SMBs in the US. Based on a survey of 500 SMBs across various industries, our research aimed to capture market sentiment, future goals, and current concerns. We were joined by Bob Neagle, CEO of Finova Capital LLC, Deborah Baker, head of Worldwide Leasing and Finance at HP, and Miles Herman, CEO of LEAF Commercial Capital, Inc., who shared valuable insights into the industry. Discover more in our latest blog: https://lnkd.in/e8x47bD6 #livestream #opportunities #smbs #challenges #registernow #assetfinance #finance #equipmentfinance #leasing #businessinsights #SMBResearch #futuregrowth

Family Offices Face Growing Due Diligence Demands In Direct Investing I think this is a huge opportunity in the Family Office space. As the article rightly points out, most returns in an investment are made at the point at which you purchase it, not when you sell. Having done the work up front is essential and will continue to be where the alpha is. That’s why I share my curated deal flow with my family office network at F Partners Read The Full Article Here: https://lnkd.in/e-dt8YGk #singlefamilyoffice #familyoffices #familyoffice #privatemarkets #privateinvestors

🗞️ Mercer Advisors has announced the acquisition of Waypoint Capital Advisors (Waypoint), an investment advisory and financial planning firm that manages nearly $1 billion in client assets for UHNW individuals and families. Since its founding in 2015, Waypoint has been focused on the entirety of families’ financial lives and strives to bring simplicity to each client relationship. It accomplishes this via a straightforward approach that demystifies the confusion surrounding fees, planning and trusted advisor coordination. Waypoint will expand on how it serves UHNW clients and multigenerational families by tapping into Mercer Advisors specialists and capabilities in these areas. The acquisition of Waypoint bolsters Mercer Advisors’ UHNW practices that specialize in serving families with generational wealth who require comprehensive family office services, including access to differentiated private investments, dedicated tax, estate, and investment strategists and more. By integrating expertise within a single team, Mercer Advisors provides a bespoke investment management and planning experience for families. “Waypoint is a terrific complement to Mercer Advisors and will deepen the depth and breadth of our teams focused on serving multi-family offices and ultra-high-net-worth families. They have built a team with deep expertise managing, coordinating and solving the unique needs of generationally wealthy families. Importantly, they do so in a way that aligns the firm to act in the best interest of their clients.” - Dave Welling, chief executive officer #news #mergersandacquisitions #RIA #familyoffice #wealthmanagement https://lnkd.in/gJ7fdy7u

CVC Capital Partners, Nordic Capital and Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), offered to acquire Hargreaves Lansdown, a financial service company based in Bristol that sells funds and shares and related products, for £5.4bn ($6.8bn). Hargreaves Lansdown said its board will unanimously support the revised offer at the proposed value. CVC Capital Partners, Nordic Capital and Platinum Ivy — a subsidiary of sovereign wealth fund Abu Dhabi Investment Authority — latest offer follows previous approaches from the consortium. Hargreaves Lansdown (led by Dan Olley and Amy Stirling) is advised by Barclays (led by Alisdair Gayne), Deutsche Numis (led by Charles Farquhar), Fenchurch Advisory Partners (led by Richard Locke), Morgan Stanley (led by Gillian Sheldon) and Brunswick Group (led by Nick Cosgrove). #MergersAcquisitionsDivestitures #FinancialServices #Investment